History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 9

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084

USA > Illinois > Sangamon County > History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 9

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

" The voice of Nature's very self drops low, As though she whispered of the long ago, When down the wandering stream the rude canoe Of some lone trapper glided into view, And loitered down the watery pat . that led Thro' forest depths, that only knew the tread Of savage beasts, and wild barbarians, That skulked about with blood upon their hands And murder in their hearts. The light of day Might barely pierce the gloominess that lay Like some dark pall across the water's face, And folded all the land in its embrace; The panther's screaming, and the bear's low growl, The snake's sharp rattle, and the wolf's wild howl, The owl's grim chuckle, as it rose and fell In alternation with the Indian's yell, Made fitting prelude for the gory plays That were enacted in the early days. 8 --

" Now, o'er the vision, like a mirage, falls The old log cabin with its dingy walls, And crippled chimney, with the crutch-like prop Beneath, a sagging shoulder at the top. The 'coon-skin, battened fast on either side, The wisps of leaf tobacco, cut and dried; The yellow strands of quartered apples hung In rich festoons that tangle in among The morning-glory vines that clamber o'er

The little clapboard roof above the door ; Again, thro' mists of memory arise

The simple scenes of home before the eyes ;

The happy mother humming with her wheel,

The dear old melodies that used to steal So drowsily upon the summer air, The house dog hid his bone, forgot his care,

And nestled at her feet, to dream, perchance, Some cooling dream of winter-time romance.

That notched its edge across the puncheon floor, And made a golden coverlet whereon The god of slumber had a picture drawn Of babyhood, in all the loveliness

Of dimpled cheek, and lumb, and linsey dress.

The bough-filled fireplace and the mantle wide, Its fire-scorched ankles stretched on either side,

Where, perchance upon its shoulders 'neath the joists, The old clock hiccoughed, harsh and husky-voiced; Tomatoes, red and yellow, in a row, Preserved not then for diet but for show ;

The jars of jelly, with their dainty tops ; Bunches of pennyroyal and cordial drops, The flask of camphor and vial of squills, The box of buttons, garden seeds and pills.

And thus the pioneer and helpsome aged wife Reflectively reviews the scenes of early life."

WEDDINGS.

The wedding was an attractive feature of pioneer life. There was no distinction of life and very little of fortune. On these accounts the first impressions of love generally resulted in marriage. The family establishment cost but little labor-nothing more. The marriage was always celebrated at the house of the bride, and she was generally left to choose the officiating clergyman. A wedding, however, engaged the attention of the whole neighborhood. It was anticipated by both old and young with eager expectation. In the morning of the wedding day the groom and his intimate friends assem- bled at the house of his father, and after due preparation, departed, en musse, for the " man- sion" of his bride. The journey was some- times made on horseback, sometimes on foot, and sometimes in farm wagons and carts. It was always a merry journey; and to insure mer- riment, the bottle was always taken along. On reaching the house of the bride, the marriage ceremony took place, and then dinner or supper was served. After the meal the dancing com- menced. and generally lasted until the follow- ing morning. The figures of the dances were

HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

three and four-handed reels, or square sets and jigs. The commencement was always a square four, which was followed by what pioneers called "jigging;" that is, two of the four would single out for a jig, and were followed by the remaining couple. The jigs were often accom- panied with what was called " cutting out," that is, when either of the parties became tired of the dance, on intimation, the place was sup- plied by sonie one of the company, without in- terruption of the dance. In this way the reel was often continued until the musician was ex- hausted. About nine or ten o'clock in the even- ing a deputation of young ladies stole off the bride and put her to bed. In doing this, they had to ascend a ladder from the kitchen to the upper floor, which was composed of loose boards. Here, in the pioneer bridal chamber, the young, simple-hearted girl was put to bed by her enthusiastic friends. This done, a dep- ntation of young men escorted the groom to the same department, and placed him snugly by the side of his bride. The dance still continued, and if the seats were scarce, which was gener- ally the case, says a local witness, every young man, when not engaged in the dance, was obliged to offer his lap as a seat for one of the girls; and the offer was sure to be accepted. During the night's festivities spirits were freely used, but seldom to excess. The infair was held on the following evening, where the same order of exercises was observed.

SHAKES.

Another feature of pioneer life which every old settler will vividly recall was the "chills and fever," "fever and agne," or "shakes," as it was variously called. It was a terror to new-comers, for in the fall of the year almost everybody was afflicted with it. It was no respector of per- sons ; everybody looked pale and sallow as though frost-bitten. It was not contagions, but derived from impure water and air, which was always developed in the opening up of a new country of rank soil like that of Sangamon county. The impurities continued to absorb from day to day, and from week to week, until the whole corporate body becomes saturated with it as with electricity, and then the shock came; and the shock was a regular shake, with a fixed beginning and ending, coming on in some cases each day, but generally on alternate days, with a regularity that was surprising. After the shakes came the fever, and this " last estate was worse than first ;" it was a burning hot fever and lasted for hours. When you had

the chill you couldn't get warm, and when you had the fever you couldn't get cool. It was exceedingly awkward in this respect-indeed it was. Nor would it stop for any contin- gency-not even a wedding in the family would stop it. It was imperative and tyranical. When the appointed time came around, everything else had to be stopped to attend to its demands. It didn't even have any Sundays or holidays. After the fever went down you still didn't feel much better, you felt as though you had gone through some sort of a collision, threshing machine, or jarring machine, and came out not killed, but next thing to it. You felt weak, as though you had run too far after something, and then didn't catch it. You felt languid, stupid and sore, and was down in the mouth and heel and partially raveled out. Your back was out of fix, your head ached and your appe- tite crazy. Your eyes had too much white in them; your ears, especially after taking quinine, had too much roar in them, and your whole body and soul were entirely woe-begone, discon- solate, sad, poor and good for nothing. You didn't think much of yourself and didn't believe that other people did either; and you didn't care. You didn't quite make up your mind to commit suicide, but sometimes wished some accident would happen to knock either the mal- ady or yourself out of existence. You imag- ined even the dogs looked at you with a sort of self-complacency. You thought the sun had a sort of sickly shine about it. About this time you came to the conclusion that you would not take the whole State as a gift; and if you had the strength and means you would pick up Han- nah and the baby, and your traps, and go back "yander" to "Old Virginny," the "Jarseys," Maryland, or " Pennsylvany."

"And to-day, the swallows flitting Round my cabin, see me sitting Moodily within the sunshine, Just inside my silent door, Waiting for the 'ager,' seeming Like a man forever dreaming ; And the sunlight on me streaming Throws no shadow on the floor ; For I am too thin and sallow To make shadows on the floor- Nary shadow any more !"

The foregoing is not a mere picture of the imagination. It is simply recounting in quaint phrase what actually occurred in hundreds of cases. Whole families would sometimes be sick at one time, and not one member scarcely able to wait upon another. Labor or exercise always aggravated the malady, and it took Gen-

HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

eral Laziness a long time to thrash the enemy out. These were the days for swallowing all sorts of roots and "yarbs" and whisky straight, with some faint hope of relief. Finally, when the case wore out, the last remedy got the credit of the cure.

WOLF HUNTING.

In early days more mischief was done by wolves than by any other wild animal, and no small part of their mischief consisted in their almost constant barking at night, which always seemed menacing and frightful to the settlers. Like mosquitos, the noise they made appeared to be about as dreadful as the real depredations they committed. The most effectual, as well as the most exciting, method of ridding the coun- try of these hateful pests, was that known as the "circular wolf hunt," by which all the men and boys would turn out on an appointed day, in a kind of circle comprising many square miles of territory, with horses and dogs, and then close up toward the center field of opera- tion, gathering, not only wolves, but also deer and many smaller "varmint." Five, ten, or more wolves, by this means, would be killed in a single day. The men would be organized with as much system as a small army, everyone being posted in the meaning of every signal and the application of every rule. Guns were scarcely ever allowed to be brought on such occasions, as their use would be unavoidably dangerous. The dogs were depended upon for the final slaughter. The dogs, by the way, had all to be held in check by a cord in the hands of their keepers until the final signal was given to let them loose, when away they would all go to the center of battle, and a more exciting scene would follow than can easily be described.

BEE HUNTING.

This wild recreation was a peculiar one, and many sturdy backwoodsmen gloried in excelling in this art. He would carefully watch a bee as it filled itself with the product of some sweet flower or leaf bud, and notice particularly the direction taken by it as it struck a " hee-line" for its home, which, when found, would gener- ally be high up in the hollow of some trec. The tree would be marked, and in the fall a party would go and cut down the tree and capture the honey as quick as they could before it wasted away through the broken walls in which it had been so carefully stowed by the busy little bee. Several gallons would often be taken from a

single tree, and by a very little work, and pleas- ant at that, the early settlers could keep them- selves in honey the year round. By the time the honey was a year old it would turn white and grannlate, yet be as good and healthful as when fresh. This was called by some "can- died " honey.

SNAKES.

In pioneer times snakes were numerous, such as the rattlesnake, viper, adder, bloodsnake, and many varieties of large blue and green snakes, milksnake, garter and watersnakes, and others. If, on meeting one of these, you would retreat, they would chase you very fiercely; but if you would turn and give them battle, they would immediately turn and crawl away with all possi- ble speed, hide in the grass and weeds and wait for a "greener " customer. These really harm- less snakes served to put people on their gnard against the more dangerous and venomous kind. It was a common practice, in order to extermi- nate them, for the men to turn out in companies, with spades, mattocks and crowbars, attack the principal snake dens and slay large numbers of them. In early spring the snakes were some- what torpid, and easily captured. Scores of rattlesnakes were sometimes frightened out of a single den, which, as soon as they showed their heads through the crevices of the rocks, were dispatched, and left to be devoured by the nu- merons wild hogs of that day. Some of the fattest of these snakes were taken to the house and oil extracted from them, and their glitter- ing skins were saved as specific for rheumatism. Another method for the destruction was to fix a heavy stick over the door of their dens, with a long grapevine attached, so that one at a dis- tance could plug the entrance to the den when the snakes were all out sunning themselves. Then a large company of citizens, on hand by appointment, could kill scores of the reptiles in a few minutes.

AGRICULTURE.

In the earlier settlements of this section, ponds, marshes and swamps abounded where to-day are found cultivated and fertile fields. The low and flat places were avoided for the higher grounds, not only on account of the wet- ness, but for sanitary reasons. Agricultural implements were necessarily rude, and the agri- culture of a corresponding character. The plow nsed was called a "bar-share" plow, the iron point of which consisted of a bar of iron about

HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

two feet long, and a broad share of iron welded to it. At the extreme point was a coulter that passed through a beam six or seven feet long, to which was attached handles of corresponding length. The mold-board was a wooden one split out of winding timber, or hewed into a winding shape, in order to turn the soil over. In the spring time, when the ground was to be prepared for the seed, the father would take his post at the plow, and the daughter possession of the reins. This is a grand scene-one full of grace and beauty. The pioneer girl thinks but little of fine dress; knows less of the fashions; has probably heard of the opera, but does not under- stand its meaning; has been told of the piano, but has never seen one; wears a dress " buttoned up behind ;" has on "leather boots," and " drives plow " for father. In the planting of corn, which was always done by hand, the girls always took a part, usually dropping the corn, but many of them covering it with the hand-hoe.

In the cultivation of wheat, the land was plowed the same as for corn, and harrowed with a wooden-toothed harrow, or smoothed by drag- ging over the ground a heavy brush, weighed down, if necessary, with a stick of timber. It was then sown broadcast by hand at the rate of about a bushel and a quarter to the acre, and har- rowed in with the brush. The implement nsed to ent the wheat was either the sickle or the cradle. The sickle was almost identical with the " grass hook " in use, and the cradle was a scythe fastened to a frame of wood with long, bending teeth or strips of wood, for cutting and laying the grain in swaths. There were few farmers who did not know how to swing the scythe or cradle, and there was no more pleasant picture on a farm than a gang of workmen in the harvest field, nor a more hilarious crowd. Three cradlers would cut about ten acres a day. One binder was expected to keep up with the cradle. Barns for the storage of the unthreshed grain are comparatively a " modern invention," and as soon as the shock was supposed to be sufficiently cured, it was hauled to some place on the farm convenient for threshing, and there put in stack. The threshing was performed in one of two ways, by flail or tramping with horses, generally the latter. The flail was used in stormy weather, on the sheltered floor, or when the farm work was not pressing; the threshing by tramping com- monly in clear weather, on a level and well tramped clay floor. The bundles were piled in a circle of about fifteen to twenty feet in diameter, and four to six horses ridden over the straw. One or two hands turned over and kept the straw

in place. When sufficiently trampled, the straw was thrown into a rick or stack, and the wheat cleared by a "fanning-mill," or sometimes, be- fore fanning-mills were introduced, by letting it fall from the height of ten or twelve feet, sub- jected to the action of the wind, when it was supposed to be ready for the mill or market.

RELIGION.

The religions element in the life of the pio- neer was such as to attract the attention of those living in more favored places. The pioneer was no hypocrite. If he believed in horse-rac- ing, whisky-drinking, card-playing, or anything of like character, he practiced them openly and above board. If he was of a religious turn of mind he was not ashamed to own it. He could truthfully sing

" I'm not ashamed to own my Lord, Or blush to speak his name."

But the pioneer clung to the faith of his fathers, for a time, at least. If he was a Pres- byterian he was not ashamed of it, but rather prided himself on being one of the elect. If a Methodist, he was one to the fullest extent. He prayed long and lond if the spirit moved him, and cared nothing for the empty forms of re- ligion.

A traveling Presbyterian minister, visiting this region of country at a very early day, thus speaks of the sectarian feeling which then ex- isted :

"In these new religions, too, of the most absolute independence, you see all the wander- ings of human thought, every shade of faith, every degree of the most persevering attach- ments to preconceived opinions. You see, too, all degrees of pretension in religion, followed by unhappy manifestations of the hollowness of such pretensions. You meet, it is true, with more cheering circumstances, and we sometimes are able to see that which we strongly wish to see. At one point you meet with a respectable Meth- odist and begin to feel an attachment to the profession. He next meets you with harmony and co-operation on his lips, and the next thing which you hear is you are being charged of being a fierce Calvinist, and that you have preached that "hell is paved with infants' skulls." While, perhaps, the society with which you are connected hear from an opposite quar- ter, and from a pretended friend, that in such a sermon you departed from the dicta of the Great Master and are leading the people to the gulf of Armenianism. The Baptists are as exclusive as

HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

in the older regions. Even among our own brethren, it is well known, that there is some feeling of a questionable nature, some rivalry between the pupils, the doctors and schools of Andoverand Princeton. The Cumberland Pres- byterians, with all the freshness of a new sect, are not found lacking in this order of things. Lastly, there are the Catholics, abundantly more united in faith, in spirit, and in purpose than we are-who claim a kind of proscriptive right to the ground, on the pretext of prior possession. Add to these the followers of Elias Smith, and the multitudes of men who would be founders of new sects, and you will have some idea of

the sectarian feelings that you will have to encounter."

But these sectarian feelings were not to last. Separated from the religious influences of the land of their birth, and seldom hearing the gos- pel message, they were literally starving for the "bread of life," and the worthy minister of whatever denomination that chanced to call re- ceived a cordial welcome. The best the early pioneers had to give was at their service. All they required was that the ministers be a true and faithful follower of Christ, and preach to them of a common salva- tion.

HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

CHAPTER IV.

JUDICIAL.

When the Lord placed Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden he gave unto them a law, requir- ing implicit obedience, on pain of punishment for transgression. As the human race increased, other laws in addition to those given in the beginning became necessary. The formation of laws implies there shall be a judge and a place where justice shall be administered. In accord- ance with this fact our legislators, on the forma- tion of the State Government, enacted certain laws, and ordained means by which those laws should be executed.

The first Constitution of the State declared that the judicial powers of the State should be vested in one Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as the General Assembly should from time to time ordain and establish. This Supreme Court consisted of a chief justice and three associates. They were appointed by joint ballot in both branches of the General Assembly, and commissioned by the Governor, and held their offices during good behavior, until the first session of the legislature in 1824. They were required to hold the circuit courts in the several counties in each month, and at such times as the General Assembly should by law prescribe. The State was accordingly divided into four districts, and by an act approved February 11, 1821, San- gamon County, together with St. Clair, Madison, Greene, Pike and Montgomery were constituted the First Judicial. Circuit, and John Reynolds, Associate Justice, assigned to it.

The first term of the Sangamon County Cir- cuit Court was held at the house of John Kelly, on Monday, May 7, 1821. There were present John Reynolds, judge; Charles R. Matheny, clerk; John Taylor, sheriff; Henry Starr, prose- cuting attorney, pro tem.

The following list of grand jurors were em- panneled and sworn: Daniel Parkinson, foreman; C'laybourn James, Henry Brown, John Darneille, Archibald Turner, William Davis, Abraham

Ritchey, Abraham Carlock, Levi Harbour, George Hayworth, William Eads, Thomas Knotts, James McCoy, James Tweddel, Aaron Hawley, Field James, Mason Fowler, Isaac Keyes and Elias Williams.

Charles R. Matheny presented his bond and security as clerk, which was approved by the court.

John Taylor presented his bond as sheriff, with security, which was approved by the court.

Suit was commenced by Samuel L. Irwin against Roland Shepherd, for trespass, and dis- missed at plaintiff's cost.

Three indictments were found by the grand jury, two for assault and battery and one for riot, trials of which were deferred until the next term of court.

This completed the business of this term of court, and judge, lawyers and spectators all ad- journed.

John Reynolds, who presided at this term of court, and who was chief justice of the State at the time, was afterwards Governor of the State, and is familiarly known as the "Old Ranger." He was a man of strong mind and strong will power, although inclined to yield somewhat to make himself popular with the people. In the history of the bar is given an anecdote showing to what extent he would go to keep the good will of another. Judge Reynolds was a schol- arly man, understanding the Latin and Greek languages perfectly. He is the author of a his- tory of Illinois.

An act of the legislature was passed and ap- proved by the Governor February 17, 1823, by which Montgomery was detached from, and Morgan and Fulton added to, the First Judicial Circuit, and this was further changed December 29, 1824, by which the district was formed of Sangamon, Pike, Fulton, Morgan, Greene and Montgomery counties. At this time the State was divided into five circuits. John York Saw-

HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

yer was appointed to the first circuit composed of the counties named.

John York Sawyer was a remarkable man, re- markable at least for weight, David Davis being a common sized man by his side. He was an ill-tempered man, too, notwithstanding his size. While he was on the circuit the law provided for whipping men for petit larceny. Sawyer, says Linder, was a terror to all such offenders, and was fond of snapping up the lawyers who defended them. A fellow was once tried before him for petit larceny and convicted. He was defended by Alfred W. Cavarly, who moved an arrest of judgment aud a new trial, and begged his honor to allow him to go over to his office and get some authorities which he wished to read in support of his motion.

" Oh, certainly, certainly," said Sawyer to him, assuming one of the blandest looks possible, " The court will wait with the greatest pleasure on you, Mr. Cavarly."

Cavarly made one of his profoundest bows and retired. Scarcely had he left the court house when Sawyer said to the sheriff :

" Mr. Sheriff, take the prisoner out to yonder white oak tree (pointing to one through a win- dow which was back of him, and about fifty yards off), strip him to the skin, and give him thirty-nine lashes on his back, well laid on."

The sheriff executed the sentence of the court with great speed. Sawyer turned around and looked out of the window while it was being ex- ecuted, and in a loud voice, while the blood was streaming down the culprit's baek, counted the number of strokes on his fingers-one, two, three, and so on up to thirty-nine. The sheriff washed the back of the prisoner, reclothed him, and brought him into court.

He was scarcely seated when Cavarly made his appearance with his arm full of law books, and with great confidence said to the court:

" May it please your Honor, I am now pre- pared to show beyond a doubt that my client has been wrongfully convicted, and is entitled to a new trial."

"Very well, Mr. Cavarly, go on; the court will hear you with great pleasure."

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History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 9

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company Number of Pages: 1084

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084